Neither one of those is an insurmountable problem. Some MMORPGs handle multplayer well (WoW, Runes of Magic). And, playing against other skilled human players is always going to offer more variety than playing against an AI. Also, one of the prime functions of the server should be to filter asshats and make it as difficult as possible to grief other players. Personally, I feel that playing multiplayer is actually teaching people useful social skills that will come in handy in real life, whereas soloing is the equivalent of computer-assisted masturbation.
The announcement of Carly Fiorina leaving sent HP's stock shooting up. What would the announcement of Steve Ballmer leaving do to Microsoft stock? Whenever the announcement of the Board giving an officer their walking papers is met with a stock jump, it's a pretty good indication that the board has made the correct choice.
Oh, they noticed, surely enough. It's just that they couldn't give a rat's ass about anyone outside the US. Much like The Register is UK-centric, Slashdot is a US-centric rag.
You are correct, the ROI on XBox to date has not been impressive. However, when you are sitting on $50 billion in cash, it arguably makes sense to lose some money now to establish a product that will bring better returns in the future. Simply put, they had a bunch of money from their core business which was now shrinking, so diversifying was really their only choice. Entering new markets was the only way they could continue to grow the company. However, some may feel the company is already too big! Personally, I feel that breaking Microsoft up into separate OS, application, and consumer electronics companies would bring a higher rate of return to investors, much like the break up of AT&T did.
You are not thinking long-term. He didn't waste his time. He prevented her, and the dozens of others she will whine about him to, from ever even thinking about wasting his time in the future. Remember, a little bit of effort put into being an asshole now can save countless hours of people bothering you in the future!
Perhaps, as in Dinner for Schmucks, we just keep people with "unorthodox opinions" around for sheer amusement value?;-)
Look, people (myself included) are jerks that almost always fail to consider the effect their actions have on others before acting. The signal to noise ratio is abysmal on the internet, and only marginally better on slashdot. You either get used to dealing with sociopaths, or you just stay away from them. But whining about them accomplishes nothing.
People don't think before they speak or post. On slashdot, if you make a mistake or your logic is weak, people will flame you unmercifully. It used to piss me off, but now I find it rather refreshing, as ridicule actually does improve the quality of discourse -- which is why I stick around.
Point (a) is right on; the Vista release was horribly mismanaged over a period of several years, almost a textbook example of how not to release a product. I'm not sure point (c) was such a bad idea; much to my surprise, the XBox eventually became successful. However, Zune stands as a shining example of how poorly Microsoft understands the consumer electronics industry (which I believe is the largest single market in the world). Their attempts to port Windows to cell phones also betray a basic misunderstanding of the difference between and PC and a phone. I agree that what passes for "innovation" these days at Microsoft looks a lot more like copying Apple to me. You are correct that Microsoft's biggest advantage is that people are already trained to use their products, but that they insist on throwing away that advantage by changing the UI with each new release. We're still using Office 2003 at work, but if forced to upgrade, Open Office does look like a pretty viable alternative.
Teachers should also be able to look at Pastafarianism and find a way to fit it into the curriculum as well! Our Constitution demands that no one Church or Religion be favored over any other; open up the curriculum to one religion's creation myths, and you leave yourself open to lawsuits from EVERY OTHER RELIGION (including Church of FSM) demanding that their creation myths be included as well... is that really what they want to happen?
Sure, but can Tony dance around on stage with huge sweat marks on his shirt while shouting "Developers! Developers!" over and over again? How far can Tony throw a chair?
When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
my sweet imagination
everything looks WORSE in black and white
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Leave your boy so far from home
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
The purpose for Trademark law is to prevent product confusion. In suing this company, Apple is implicitly asserting that their product is indistinguishable to the consumer from another product used for shoveling shit. Personally, I can see the huge potential for confusion.
Making real people laugh is a HELL of a lot more important than artificially boosting virtual "karma". In fact, I'm frequently surprised when people mod my jokes (which most of my postings are) as "Informative" or "Insightful" when I was really going for "Funny". Trust me, I'm a Buddhist, I don't need any more Karma!
Slashdot Mirror
Neither one of those is an insurmountable problem. Some MMORPGs handle multplayer well (WoW, Runes of Magic). And, playing against other skilled human players is always going to offer more variety than playing against an AI. Also, one of the prime functions of the server should be to filter asshats and make it as difficult as possible to grief other players. Personally, I feel that playing multiplayer is actually teaching people useful social skills that will come in handy in real life, whereas soloing is the equivalent of computer-assisted masturbation.
The announcement of Carly Fiorina leaving sent HP's stock shooting up. What would the announcement of Steve Ballmer leaving do to Microsoft stock? Whenever the announcement of the Board giving an officer their walking papers is met with a stock jump, it's a pretty good indication that the board has made the correct choice.
Oh, they noticed, surely enough. It's just that they couldn't give a rat's ass about anyone outside the US. Much like The Register is UK-centric, Slashdot is a US-centric rag.
You are correct, the ROI on XBox to date has not been impressive. However, when you are sitting on $50 billion in cash, it arguably makes sense to lose some money now to establish a product that will bring better returns in the future. Simply put, they had a bunch of money from their core business which was now shrinking, so diversifying was really their only choice. Entering new markets was the only way they could continue to grow the company. However, some may feel the company is already too big! Personally, I feel that breaking Microsoft up into separate OS, application, and consumer electronics companies would bring a higher rate of return to investors, much like the break up of AT&T did.
You are not thinking long-term. He didn't waste his time. He prevented her, and the dozens of others she will whine about him to, from ever even thinking about wasting his time in the future. Remember, a little bit of effort put into being an asshole now can save countless hours of people bothering you in the future!
Perhaps, as in Dinner for Schmucks, we just keep people with "unorthodox opinions" around for sheer amusement value? ;-)
Look, people (myself included) are jerks that almost always fail to consider the effect their actions have on others before acting. The signal to noise ratio is abysmal on the internet, and only marginally better on slashdot. You either get used to dealing with sociopaths, or you just stay away from them. But whining about them accomplishes nothing.
People don't think before they speak or post. On slashdot, if you make a mistake or your logic is weak, people will flame you unmercifully. It used to piss me off, but now I find it rather refreshing, as ridicule actually does improve the quality of discourse -- which is why I stick around.
Point (a) is right on; the Vista release was horribly mismanaged over a period of several years, almost a textbook example of how not to release a product. I'm not sure point (c) was such a bad idea; much to my surprise, the XBox eventually became successful. However, Zune stands as a shining example of how poorly Microsoft understands the consumer electronics industry (which I believe is the largest single market in the world). Their attempts to port Windows to cell phones also betray a basic misunderstanding of the difference between and PC and a phone. I agree that what passes for "innovation" these days at Microsoft looks a lot more like copying Apple to me. You are correct that Microsoft's biggest advantage is that people are already trained to use their products, but that they insist on throwing away that advantage by changing the UI with each new release. We're still using Office 2003 at work, but if forced to upgrade, Open Office does look like a pretty viable alternative.
If you have an aversion to assholes, what are you doing reading slashdot?!?
Next they'll be complaining that the stages in strip clubs should be handicapped accessible... Oh, wait.
As a practical consideration, wouldn't tattooing the text of the 1st amendment onto their faces work much better?
What if they want to talk about Pastafarianism in science class?
Teachers should also be able to look at Pastafarianism and find a way to fit it into the curriculum as well! Our Constitution demands that no one Church or Religion be favored over any other; open up the curriculum to one religion's creation myths, and you leave yourself open to lawsuits from EVERY OTHER RELIGION (including Church of FSM) demanding that their creation myths be included as well... is that really what they want to happen?
A top-secret photo of the Black Labs is here
Sure, but can Tony dance around on stage with huge sweat marks on his shirt while shouting "Developers! Developers!" over and over again? How far can Tony throw a chair?
It's more economical to sell failed 6 core chips as 4 core chips than it is to simply throw them away.
When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
my sweet imagination
everything looks WORSE in black and white
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Leave your boy so far from home
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Looks like Mama DID take his Kodachrome away!
Remember to always duct-tape your squirrel, so it doesn't explode when you...
For $800, they should have roboticized the squirrel and made it do the "Hamster Dance"!
Gee, think there is a chance some of those "burnout cases" may have taken a few intoxicants other than pot?
I think the Funnymentalists would be much more likely to jump on the gay butt-sex angle. Sodom and Gomorrah weren't destroyed for getting high...
I'm all in favor of medical marijuana, but shouldn't people surrender their driver's license when they get their medical marijuana card?
The purpose for Trademark law is to prevent product confusion. In suing this company, Apple is implicitly asserting that their product is indistinguishable to the consumer from another product used for shoveling shit. Personally, I can see the huge potential for confusion.
Well, mine is so big that I have to use both hands to hold it... wait, were we talking about phones?
Making real people laugh is a HELL of a lot more important than artificially boosting virtual "karma". In fact, I'm frequently surprised when people mod my jokes (which most of my postings are) as "Informative" or "Insightful" when I was really going for "Funny". Trust me, I'm a Buddhist, I don't need any more Karma!
And you don't get asked about surfing slashdot all day?!?